This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com

When auto racer Jacques Villeneuve won the Lou Marsh Trophy as Canada’s top athlete in 1997, one of the people who lost out — baseball’s Larry Walker — quipped that it was the first time he’d ever been beaten by a computer.

I laughed along with everybody else. It was a funny line — although Walker clearly didn’t understand what it takes to win a Formula One World Driving Championship.

But you really couldn’t blame him for being disappointed. He’d had a career year in ’97 — he was the National League’s MVP after leading the league in home runs (49) and batting .366 with a .720 hitting percentage and 99 extra-base hits — so you had to feel a little sorry.

But to win in top-of-the-mountain motorsport, an athlete has to be mentally sharp, emotionally stable and in peak physical condition. Ask Kimi Raikkonen, who’s raced in Formula One as well as NASCAR and the World Rally Championship, and he’ll tell you the challenges are equally rigorous and that you’re exhausted in every way when the races are over.

Which brings us to Quebec rally racer Antoine L’Estage and his incredible record of accomplishment. If you win seven national rally championships and seven North American championships (did we mention Rally America and the X Games?), you are most certainly a cut above.

Article Continued Below

And if L’Estage wins the Rally of the Tall Pines this weekend in Bancroft, Ont., he’ll have run the table for the 2014 season: he’ll have won every race in the championship, something no other Canadian rally racer has done before.

It’s award season and besides the Star’s Lou Marsh Trophy, TSN (in the form of top sports story of the year), Sportsnet and the Canadian Press all name top athletes. And in a year when Olympic champions and some hockey players have all excelled (no, we’re not talking about the Maple Leafs), it’s hoped that L’Estage will be given due consideration.

Villeneuve won the CP and Lou Marsh trophies twice – in 1997 when he was F1 World Driving Champion and in 1995 when he became the first Canadian to win the Indianapolis 500 (after falling two laps behind) as well as the CART championship.

To date, Jacques and his famous father Gilles Villeneuve are the only motor sportsmen to be honoured. I know the now-retired Paul Tracy was touted several times in the 1990s and again in 2003 when he won the Indy car title but his accomplishments always fell short in the eyes of the voters.

James Hinchcliffe had a breakout year in 2013 with three Indy victories but had a so-so season this year and never reached Victory Lane. Canadian motorcycle racers Jordan Szoke and Jodi Christie both enjoyed spectacular seasons in 2014 but if the motorsport world hopes for recognition at the national level, its champion for 2014 has to be L’Estage.

- Every time I look at the Yas Marina circuit, site of the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix held last weekend in which Lewis Hamilton won his second world championship, I think of Exhibition Place and Ontario Place in Toronto and I think of lost opportunities.

Toronto, despite the people running the place, is exploding with success and a hotel/entertainment complex with restaurants, theatres and the marina would be just the ticket to revive Ontario Place.

A wide, sweeping racing circuit could easily be part of the plans — it could incorporate some of the current Honda Indy track and other public roads — and could be just the jolt the Indy car race needs to recapture some of its former glory and attract some other world-class championship series as well.

And who knows? Maybe even F1 — after the current financial deal with Montreal runs out, of course.

Canadian Tire Motorsport Park issued a release the other day announcing its major event schedule for the 2015 racing season and it will be headlined by sports cars July 9-12 and NASCAR trucks Aug. 28-30.

“We look forward to welcoming back the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series as well as the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship,” said Myles Brandt, President and General Manager of Old Mosport, in the release.

“With two highly successful truck races now in the books, and both featuring great racing and unbelievable finishes, we can’t wait to see what the 2015 Chevrolet Silverado 250 will bring."

The Castrol presents the Victoria Day SpeedFest Weekend will get the facility’s 55th racing season under way May 15-17 with the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series stock cars and the Pirelli World Challenge Championship (all seven classes) highlighting the unofficial kickoff to the summer. Also in action will be the Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Michelin, Canadian Touring Car Championship presented by Continental Tire and the Canadian SuperCar Series.

The Canadian Historic Grand Prix, featuring beautifully restored race cars from the past 50-plus years of motorsport will be racing June 19-21. The Historic Formula Fords will headline the action.

(And I have it on very good authority that the FF show will feature a reunion of drivers and crews from the Bulova Series and if that happens, I can't wait to get out there to say hello to all those old Weekend Warriors.)

As mentioned, the Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix presented by Hawk Performance will showcase the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship July 9-12 that will also feature the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge, Cooper Tire Prototype Lites, Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama and the SCCA Pro Racing Battery Tender Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by BF Goodrich (I dare you to say the name of that last race fast five times).

Canada’s top motorcycle riders (Szoke and Christie among them) will return Aug. 14-16 for the Canadian Superbike Doubleheader Weekend.

The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series, the Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Michelin and the Canadian Touring Car Championship presented by Continental Tire will join the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series for the final major event of the season Aug. 28-30, which will precede by a week the long Labour Day weekend when the truck race is usually held.

What ever will we do on Labour Day weekend (although can anybody say Oswego Classic)?

The Toronto Star and thestar.com, each property of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, One Yonge Street, 4th Floor, Toronto, ON, M5E 1E6. You can unsubscribe at any time. Please contact us or see our privacy policy for more information.

More from the Toronto Star & Partners

LOADING

Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or distribution of this content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. To order copies of Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com